U.S. personnel searching in Iraq for unconventional weapons and their components are making rapid progress and the world could expect surprises soon, the CIA's chief weapons inspector told CNN.
My suspicions are that we'll find [things] in the chemical and biological areas. In fact, I think there may be some surprises coming rather quickly in that area," chief CIA weapons inspector David Kay told CNN over a secure teleconference between Baghdad and CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia.
Kay, who led three United Nations arms inspection missions in Iraq in 1991-92, declined to be more specific on what "surprises" might turn up.
U.S. officials said they were examining two large containers found in Iraq full of documents related to banned weapons.
Officials said some documents instruct scientists how to conceal evidence of the weapons program from international inspectors.
So far, few have come forward. Until now, Iraqi scientists have told CNN they were unsure of the U.S. policy, wondering if they would be welcomed or treated as war criminals, or left vulnerable to reprisals by remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime.
For example, one scientist told CNN he did not have anything to do with weapons programs and said he wasn't afraid. But as CNN Producer Maria Fleet left his home, his daughter secretly passed along a note.
"He is afraid of telling the truth because of the dangerous situation Saddam put us in. Please help us and make sure of our safety and if you could make it possible to leave Iraq forever," said the note, written in English.
Obeidi had already begun cooperating with the CIA when U.S. Army troops raided his home June 3, breaking through the front door.
"I was eating breakfast with my wife and I heard some very loud noise outside, and the noise started to grow and even more. And then we were really scared. We thought somebody was going to come to kill us," Obeidi told CNN.
Just two days earlier, he said he had begun cooperating with the CIA, describing to them the centrifuge program and turning over the plans and parts he had hidden under his rose bushes.
Obeidi said he was promised protection by the CIA, but as armed soldiers roamed his home, he felt endangered. His handlers seemed to be reneging, he said.
Fortunately for Obeidi, he was able to reach the only American he really knew, David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector whom he had met -- and lied to -- many times during U.N. inspections in the 1990s.
Obeidi, who met with CNN Wednesday at a location the network promised not to disclose, said he hoped lessons could be learned from his attempt to cooperate. Other Iraqi scientists were closely watching his fate, he said.
"I think that the soft touch is the best approach. This is the approach that has really helped me to voluntarily cooperate," he said.
My suspicions are that we'll find [things] in the chemical and biological areas. In fact, I think there may be some surprises coming rather quickly in that area," chief CIA weapons inspector David Kay told CNN over a secure teleconference between Baghdad and CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia.
Kay, who led three United Nations arms inspection missions in Iraq in 1991-92, declined to be more specific on what "surprises" might turn up.
U.S. officials said they were examining two large containers found in Iraq full of documents related to banned weapons.
Officials said some documents instruct scientists how to conceal evidence of the weapons program from international inspectors.
So far, few have come forward. Until now, Iraqi scientists have told CNN they were unsure of the U.S. policy, wondering if they would be welcomed or treated as war criminals, or left vulnerable to reprisals by remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime.
For example, one scientist told CNN he did not have anything to do with weapons programs and said he wasn't afraid. But as CNN Producer Maria Fleet left his home, his daughter secretly passed along a note.
"He is afraid of telling the truth because of the dangerous situation Saddam put us in. Please help us and make sure of our safety and if you could make it possible to leave Iraq forever," said the note, written in English.
Obeidi had already begun cooperating with the CIA when U.S. Army troops raided his home June 3, breaking through the front door.
"I was eating breakfast with my wife and I heard some very loud noise outside, and the noise started to grow and even more. And then we were really scared. We thought somebody was going to come to kill us," Obeidi told CNN.
Just two days earlier, he said he had begun cooperating with the CIA, describing to them the centrifuge program and turning over the plans and parts he had hidden under his rose bushes.
Obeidi said he was promised protection by the CIA, but as armed soldiers roamed his home, he felt endangered. His handlers seemed to be reneging, he said.
Fortunately for Obeidi, he was able to reach the only American he really knew, David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector whom he had met -- and lied to -- many times during U.N. inspections in the 1990s.
Obeidi, who met with CNN Wednesday at a location the network promised not to disclose, said he hoped lessons could be learned from his attempt to cooperate. Other Iraqi scientists were closely watching his fate, he said.
"I think that the soft touch is the best approach. This is the approach that has really helped me to voluntarily cooperate," he said.